News, recommendations, and other monkey business from Harvard Square's only independent children's bookseller, Curious George Books and Toys.

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

This weekend in Greater Boston.....

I was putting up adverts online for our Valentine's event (Alison Paul! Burglar masks! ICE CREAM SUNDAES!) and I stumbled across an ad for a theater production of Rosemary Wells's Max and Ruby! It's up at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton, as part of their Magic Ark Children's Series, on January 31st (this Sunday). You can get tickets at the JCC website or by phone 617-965-5226. I also see they're doing a musical rendition of Junie B. Jones in March....(ooh...!).Just look at their cuddly bunny ear hats! I can think of a few staffers here who would love a pair of those.

Also this weekend, you can see HONK!, a musical retelling of the Ugly Duckling, at the Wheelock Family Theatre (at Wheelock College). The show continues through February, with additional matinees during school vacation week (the 16th through 19th).

For a slightly older audience (10 up), Coolidge Corner Theatre will broadcast a London National Theatre performance of Terry Pratchett's novel Nation (last year's Printz Honor and a staff favorite here!). The show incorporates music, dance, and puppetry. I hear NT has done a version of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials, which must have been incredible! Sigh. I love you Nicole Kidman, but that film The Golden Compass just didn't do the books justice.

Beyond musicals and plays, don't forget to catch the Harry Potter exhibition at the Museum of Science - you still have a month to see props, costumes and sets (Hagrid's hut!) from the films. Stop at your local library before you go, BPL has passes for the museums.

Hopefully all these options will keep you from getting that winter indoors angst....at least until THE LIGHTING THIEF comes out!!! That would be on February 12th. I'm a little surprised at myself for how excited I am, but can you blame me? (RIP-TIDE is a sword that can be disguised as a PEN!! See? Now you can excuse my excessive exclamation points and alliteration). There's also news that Riordan is writing a new series called the Kane Chronicles, based on Egyptian mythology. It kicks off with The Red Pyramid, out this May. I'd better reread Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Egypt Game to get ahead of the gang.